Should lap cedar be painted while damp?

8:45 AM
Cedar lap siding
Coating: Shubert solid stain (Aqua tones)
Yesterday, I washed the two story front face of my split level.
Finished about 5 PM with a full spray off. I wanted to start the
painting this morning.
I was doing some pre-work on trim and shutters up on the face earlier
this morning and noticed that the wood face is still damp. Not
dripping by any means, but damp.
Should I wait until it is fully dried out before I paint it?
Thanks,
FACE

I should have said latex. It is external water based latex. Much
more of a paint than a stain.
As to the label, it has been years since i have read one for that
latex but I know the application temperature is 50 to 80 degrees and
have no doubt that there is a "For Best results, make sure surface is
clean and dry" statement in there too -- pretty standard. I was
asking for experience because "dry" can be pretty subjective -- at 9AM
it had been just at 16 hours since I had sprayed off the housewash and
24 hours before I painted a section.
The house faces East, so it was in the shade yesterday afternoon and
it was 79 degrees. I am brush painting and have some thirsty wood.
FACE

The moisture content of the wood is not subjective at all. If a
painting contractor is any good he'll have a moisture meter.
The best painting contractor I knew said that you had to wait two to
three days after pressure washing before painting. Since your using a
latex, and it's a solid-body stain, it _might_ not be as critical.
R

I read the entire label of an unopened can of the paint. No mention
was made of the wood being dry. I would take issue with slightly
damp, damp, wet, soaked, dripping, as being subjective terms but you
say "moisture content" and that is a non-subjective measurement -- but
not one i have the equipment to test for.
The label did say the surface should be free of dirt, debris, grime
and wax and those type of instructions are pretty standard.
The paint (or solid stain if you prefer) is completely water-based and
gives a minimum temp of application as 50 degrees, which I was aware
of but it gives no upper limit of temp and I mostly have arbitrarily
decided at 80 as the upper limit so that it does not dry too quickly.
The label says at a application of .04 mil that it is touch dry in 1
hour, recoat in 4 hours, maximum cure in 1 week. I have been giving
it 12-24 hours to cure before recoat and limiting recoats to those
high-exposure areas where the boards show that they have been
weather-beaten. Late yesterday morning the air temp was 76F but in
the sun, against the siding, the thermometer quickly went to 115F. I
waited till a coupla hours after the sun was off the siding to paint
at which time the air temp was 82 but the siding had gone down to
about 85.
It is raining this morning, but not a lashing rain, so I am rather
verbose, though if it stops a significant part of what is left to
paint will have been protected by the eaves. I will determine
dampness with those highly scientific tools of "looks like" and
pressing a cheek to it. :-) With this paint, air humidity has not
proved to be a significant factor in color shade.
FACE

I read the entire label of an unopened can of the paint. No mention
was made of the wood being dry. I would take issue with slightly
damp, damp, wet, soaked, dripping, as being subjective terms but you
say "moisture content" and that is a non-subjective measurement -- but
not one i have the equipment to test for.
The label did say the surface should be free of dirt, debris, grime
and wax and those type of instructions are pretty standard.
The paint (or solid stain if you prefer) is completely water-based and
gives a minimum temp of application as 50 degrees, which I was aware
of but it gives no upper limit of temp and I mostly have arbitrarily
decided at 80 as the upper limit so that it does not dry too quickly.
The label says at a application of .04 mil that it is touch dry in 1
hour, recoat in 4 hours, maximum cure in 1 week. I have been giving
it 12-24 hours to cure before recoat and limiting recoats to those
high-exposure areas where the boards show that they have been
weather-beaten. Late yesterday morning the air temp was 76F but in
the sun, against the siding, the thermometer quickly went to 115F. I
waited till a coupla hours after the sun was off the siding to paint
at which time the air temp was 82 but the siding temp had gone down to
about 87.
It is raining this morning, but not a lashing rain, so I am rather
verbose, though if it stops a significant part of what is left to
paint will have been protected by the eaves. I will determine
dampness with those highly scientific tools of "looks like" and
pressing a cheek to it. :-) With this paint, air humidity has not
proved to be a significant factor in color shade.
FACE

I had originally said an emphatic "Yes". I've always known wood should be
dry when applying stain or paint. Interestingly enough, I just picked up
some oil based Behr Deck Plus to stain a few accents on my house (would have
preferred Penofin but this is to match what is already there). Anyway,
read the can and not only does it say "Oil Based" but it cleans up with
water. Additionally, it says it can be applied to either wet or dry wood.
Interesting. I suppose the correct answer for you depends on what you're
using and what they say!
Cheers,
cc

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